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Kat 3
Kat 3, alternatively Kat3, was a heavyweight robot which competed in Series 5, 6 and 7 of Robot Wars, also appearing in Series 2 of Robot Wars Extreme, Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, and the one-off series, Nickelodeon Robot Wars. The successor to Kater Killer, Kat 3 enjoyed more success by reaching the Heat Final in the Fifth Wars after defeating the seeded Mini Morg and being defeated by former champion Panic Attack. While Kat 3 lost to Barber-Ous 2 in the second round of the Sixth Wars, Kat 3 and its team were presented with the Sportsmanship Award. Kat 3 reached its second Heat Final in Series 7 where it lost to the seeded Bulldog Breed, and also placed in the top four of the All-Stars. Design Kat 3 was a wedge-shaped robot, painted orange with black tiger stripes to match the team's outfits. Its weapon was a pneumatic axe. In Series 5, Extreme Warriors and Nickelodeon Robot Wars, Kat 3 was a double wedge running on two go-kart wheels to drive up to 16mph with an gas-powered overhead swinging axe. This version of the machine cost roughly £1,000 to build, had a mixture of aluminium and polycarbonate for the bodywork, and the chassis was 1 inch steel box section.http://web.archive.org/web/20031018071645/http://www.katerkiller.com/yearthree/techdr.htm It lacked a baseplate, which was significant against Panic Attack, so the robot was changed for Series 6. The robot was now similar in design to Dominator 2, but was slower at 10mph and had more of a conventional wedge shape (compared to the double-V shape of Dominator 2). For Series 7, the wedge was more pointed, had a lower ground clearance, an improved aluminium body and a polycarbonate base mounted on a central spine, and the axe was upgraded to strike 50 times per battle. The axe was quite powerful, capable of breaking pieces off Cassius Chrome and noticeably puncturing Bigger Brother's armour. Qualification Kat 3 fought and lost to Fluffy in the Series 5 qualifiers. The two teams had fought at the Series 4 qualifiers with their previous entries, Charybdis and Kater Killer. Kat 3 received a discretionary place to qualify, despite receiving severe damage. Kat 3 took on Woden, Granny's Revenge 2, and future champions Typhoon 2 at the Series 6 qualifiers. Woden started strongly, quickly flipping over Granny's Revenge and Typhoon 2, but Kat 3 managed to immobilised Woden with its axe, thereby winning the qualifier and qualifying for for Series 6. At the Series 7 qualifiers, Kat 3 fought Revenge of Trouble & Strife, who it had previously fought in Series 6, along with an unknown spinner. The result of the battle is unknown, but both Kat 3 and Revenge of Trouble & Strife qualified. Robot History Series 5 Kat 3 started well in its first battle against the 19th seeds Mini Morg. Both robots started the fight tentatively with them both dodging each other's attacks. Kat 3 missed with its axe as Mini Morg rammed it. Mini Morg then used its small rear axe, but it didn't cause much damage. Mini Morg began to look sluggish and Kat 3 pulled it around the arena with its axe. Mini Morg was then pushed towards Sir Killalot and almost flipped over. Mini Morg escaped, but Kat 3 pursued and rammed Mini Morg. Kat 3 then activated the pit and quickly pushed Mini Morg into it. In the second round, Kat 3 fought Major Tom, built from a bumper car. Kat 3 was initially the less assertive, sustaining slams from Major Tom, while Kat 3 mostly missed with its axe. However, Kat 3 landed a blow on the back end of the bumper car, piercing it. Major Tom pushed Kat 3 into the pit release button, causing damage to the back of Kat 3, but then Major Tom reversed directly into the back of the descending pit, awarding the win to Kat 3 instantaneously. Team KaterKiller were uncontrollably laughing in the post-battle interview, and the battle was later named as the funniest battle ever in Robot Wars: The Ultimate Guide. Kat 3 then fought former champions and 6th seeds Panic Attack in the Heat Final. The former champions immediately got underneath, and because Kat 3 had no baseplate, the robot got stuck on Panic Attack's forks. This allowed the sixth seeds to steer it around the arena endlessly, and Kat 3 could do no damage with their axe. Eventually, it got shoved into the pit button, and Panic Attack pushed it towards the pit. It held on momentarily, but finally went down. US Season 2 Series 5's version of Kat 3 also competed in Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors, during the International Championship in Season 2. It had an unlucky draw in the first round as it was drawn against World Champions Razer. Razer almost immediately attacked Kat 3's wheels, but at first did not succeed in getting hold of the wheels or any bit of armour. Kat 3 fired its axe but failed to get any effective hits. Razer came back in for another attack on Kat 3's wheels, this time getting a firm grip. Razer crushed the wheels a few times before backing away. Kat 3 turned in an attempted get away from Razer's crushing claw, however Razer slammed into Kat 3, getting it onto Razer's front wedge. Razer then crushed the front of the stranded Kat 3. Kat 3 slammed its axe down but this achieved nothing. Razer backed away before attacking the main body of Kat 3 however it didn't penetrate the armour, so it went back to attacking its wheel again. A few more attacks eventually rendered Kat 3 immobile. Refbot began counting Kat 3 out whilst Razer pushed it around and Sgt. Bash pressed the pit release button. Razer finished the battle off by pushing Kat 3 into the pit. Nickelodeon In Nickelodeon Robot Wars, Team KaterKiller were joined by Team EyeEye's Ian Inglis, and Kat 3 was driven by Jade Spaven. Kat 3 fought alongside Bigger Brother in the International Tag Team Terror competition against fellow British machines Ming 3 and Rick. Kat 3 went out first, with Rick fighting first for the other team. As the battle started, Rick turned to try and use its spinning disc on Kat 3, but it did not appear to be working. Kat 3 struck the top of Rick with its axe, but caused no visible damage. Rick then attempted to use its flipper, but only lifted Kat 3 up slightly. Kat 3 missed with its next axe strike, and Rick then managed to overturn it. As Kat 3 tried unsuccessfully to right itself, Ming 3 drove out without a tag, grabbed hold of Kat 3's wheel-guard and dragged it away from Bigger Brother, who had also come out of its CPZ. Bigger Brother tried to flip Kat 3 over, before turning on Ming 3, trying to flip it out of the arena. It was unable to, so it flipped Ming 3 over instead. Ming 3 quickly self-righted and grabbed hold of Bigger Brother. Teammate Bigger Brother managed to escape and was finally able to right Kat 3, who got its axe stuck in Bigger Brother's flipper. Bigger Brother escaped and tried to throw Ming 3 out of the arena again, with no success. It pushed Ming 3 into the pit release button, only to be overturned itself by Rick, who nearly managed to flip Bigger Brother out of the arena just as cease was called. The judges were called on to make a decision, and chose Ming 3 and Rick, eliminating Bigger Brother and Kat 3. Both Kat 3 and Run Away were unable to participate in the Playoff, so Bigger Brother had to face Zanzara alone. Bigger Brother won the Judges' decision to allow Bigger Brother and Kat 3 to take third place overall. Series 6 In the first round, Kat 3 was drawn up against newcomers Spin Doctor, along with veterans Revenge of Trouble & Strife and Bulldog Breed. It tried to hit Revenge of Trouble & Strife with its axe, but after that the weapon remained in the fired position. Because this removed Kat 3's offence and self-righting mechanism, it resorted to evasive tactics, which were successful, as Bulldog Breed flipped and immobilised both Spin Doctor and Revenge of Trouble & Strife. After this, Kat 3 was flipped over and immobilised by Bulldog Breed, then was pitted by the dog, but it still qualified as the last to be defeated. Kat 3 then faced full-body drum Barber-Ous 2 in the Heat Semi-Final. Kat 3 missed with its first axe blow and Barber-Ous 2 struck Kat 3's side removing a chunk of its side armour before overturning it and pushing the axe-wielding robot towards the wall. Kat 3, on its side, attempted to self-right, but was unable to after the axe head was damaged. Kat 3 was subsequently counted out by Refbot and eliminated. Sir Killalot then dragged Kat 3 onto the floor flipper where in another attempt at self-righting the latter lost the end of its own axe after it had been almost torn off by Sir Killalot's claw. Kat 3 was then thrown into the air, and cease was finally called, with Kat 3 being eliminated from the Sixth Wars. At the end of the series, Kat 3 was announced the winner of the Sportsmanship Award. Extreme 2 Kat 3 entered the Iron Maidens tournament, where Georje Reed and Julie-Ann Williams were joined by Hazel Heslop of Team Firestorm, with Keith Williams not involved with the women-only side event. In the first round, Kat 3 faced Behemoth and Riptilion. Kat 3 struggled greatly , as it was swiftly overturned by Behemoth and left flailing around against the side wall, unable to right itself. Riptilion and Behemoth assaulted it, but Kat 3 finally hooked its axe on Riptilion's dome, and self-righted. Riptilion began to show signs of impaired movement, and Kat 3 impaled it with the axe, dragging it around and by the open pit, pushing it most of the way in, before Mr. Psycho finished the job. In the second round, Kat 3 fought Pussycat, another robot with a cat theme, in a battle Philippa Forrester described as the "biggest catfight in Robot Wars". Georje Reed was apprehensive about her first head-to-head battle of the competition. The battle began with Kat 3 missing many axe blows, landing them only on the arena floor. Eventually it landed a hit on the surface of Pussycat, causing minor damage. Pussycat's weapon was more effective, attacking with the blade and dislodging panels from the Kat. Kat 3 then ran towards, and pressed, the pit release tyre. More dodging ensued, until Pussycat finally attacked Kat 3 again, once again causing damage to the side. Pussycat then drove straight into the CPZ, and Killalot came in, but Ann Gribble at the controls spin away. Kat 3 then punctured Pussycat with its axe, but only caused a small hole. Kat 3 then got in behind Pussycat and tried to axe the rear, but missed. Pussycat then ripped away the loose panel entirely, exposing the CO2 tank, and the wheels. Kat 3 did not seem fazed by this, however, and attacked Pussycat with its axe. The front of Kat 3 had the front of the machine buckled by Pussycat, but nevertheless both robots survived to the end of the battle, and the fight was decided by the Judges. The resulting Judges' decision was a split decision, but on the basis of damage, this was awarded to Pussycat, 2-1. Georje Reed agreed with the outcome, and Kat 3 was eliminated. Series 7 In the first round melee, Kat 3 met Belgian competitor Hard, newcomer T-Wrecks, and the experienced Velocirippa. Kat 3 took a swing with its axe but missed. Velocirippa ran up Kat 3 again, with the orange machine missing another axe blow and getting its axe stuck in the floor flipper. Kat 3 finally freed itself, only to axe the side wall on another failed attack. Cassius Chrome shunted Hard out of its CPZ, and the other three robots fled as well. After ramming Refbot, Velocirippa rammed over Hard, only to have Kat 3's axe crash down on it, pinning it. More pushing and shoving ensued, and Velocirippa released the pit. Kat 3 continued to attack, but the axe point had come off, rendering the weapon useless. Hard flipped T-Wrecks, causing it to land on the rear of Hard. Afterwards, Hard reversed and shunted T-Wrecks into the pit. Meanwhile, Velocirippa appeared to have run low on battery power, and Hard slid beneath it and pitted it. This allowed Kat 3 to advance alongside Hard. In the second round, Kat 3 was drawn against a promising newcomer, Mantis. Kat 3 began landing unsuccessful blows again, but then it stuck its spiked axe through the exoskeleton of Mantis. Kat 3 tried to retract its axe, but it was stuck beneath a rib of Mantis, hooking the robot, and allowing it to pull. When the axe finally did retract, Mantis shot out of reach before Kat 3 could follow up with another axe blow. Mantis reversed into the pit release, but Kat 3 struck with its axe again. Kat 3 chased Mantis around the arena, landing and missing blows with its axe. Mantis slid beneath Kat 3, but the crusher missed its target. Mantis then flipped over Kat 3, which self-righted promptly. Retaliating, Kat 3 then axed Mantis, but Mantis flipped Kat 3 in return, which self-righted once more. The two robots finished beside each other, and a very close match was sent to the Judges. The judges gave the decision to Kat 3, putting them into the Heat Final. Kat 3 met Bulldog Breed (which it had previously fought in Series 6) in the Heat Final, creating a cat against dog encounter. Neither robot landed much damage in the opening, as both tried to manoeuvre into a better position to attack the other. Kat 3 axed Bulldog Breed in the centre of the flipper, before the pair swerved to avoid each other again. Kat 3 missed an axe blow, and Bulldog Breed flipped it over. Kat 3 tried to self-right, but Bulldog Breed pushed it onto its wheels. Kat 3 then activated the pit. Kat 3 and Bulldog Breed both missed their attacks, before Bulldog Breed flipped Kat 3 into Killalot, who shunted it into the arena centre. The angle it sat on made it unable to self-right. Bulldog Breed then threw Kat 3 over Sir Killalot and onto its wheels. Bulldog Breed then charged Kat 3 into the side wall, but failed to flip it out. Kat 3 attacked Bulldog Breed, and sparks flew. The two continued to chase each other until the judges were required to make another Judges' decision. Two of the judges descended to the pits to examine the axe blows on Bulldog Breed. Upon discovering that the blows were merely superficial, they awarded the win to Bulldog Breed. Kat 3 also participated in the Axe Attack, where it fought Hydra and Iron Awe 2.1. The three robots engaged in battle, but most of the early attacks with the axes missed their targets. Hydra rammed Iron-Awe 2.1 into the arena wall twice in quick succession, while Kat 3 stopped moving and appeared to be immobilised. As Iron-Awe 2.1 attacked the defeated Kat 3, Hydra got underneath and turned it over onto its side with the axe, pushing it into the arena wall, then Shunt's CPZ. After avoiding Shunt, the two robots then decided to attack Kat 3, but it was clearly already immobilised and was counted out by Refbot. Hydra and Iron-Awe 2.1 were left, with Iron-Awe 2.1 winning the battle when Hydra fell into the pit. As Team KaterKiller had fought in five UK championships, Kat 3 was also involved in All-Stars. In the first round, it was drawn against former Tag Team partners Bigger Brother, the team's close friends Firestorm 5 and Panic Attack, which had beaten them in Series 5. Immediately, all four robots converged on Shunt, and Firestorm 5 was the first to slide beneath the House Robot and flipped it over. Refbot cleared the four competing robots away, and Cassius Chrome seized Kat 3 and shoved it backwards across the arena, near to the pit release button. As it escaped, Firestorm 5 retaliated by pushing Cassius Chrome along the arena, but did not flip it. Cassius Chrome bumped both robots off, and targeted Kat 3 again, shoving it back towards the arena side wall. Both Panic Attack and Firestorm 5 then attacked Cassius Chrome from the sides, causing the sole House Robot to flee. Firestorm 5 and Bigger Brother tried to flip Cassius Chrome, but they were unsuccessful, and Firestorm 5 pushed Panic Attack into Cassius Chrome, with the two competitors then shoving the house robot the length of the arena. As Bigger Brother and Kat 3 attacked Cassius Chrome, Kat 3's axe caused the House Robot's eye to fall off. All four robots ganged up on Cassius Chrome. Panic Attack hoisted Cassius Chrome off the ground, before being aided by Bigger Brother. Meanwhile, the drop zone and the arena floor flipper both activated in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the rampaging robots. Cassius Chrome appeared to have lost power as it was pushed towards the pit by Panic Attack, who then left it up against the arena side wall by the pit release button. After this, all four competitors decided to turn on the Refbot, for a clean house robot sweep. However, Firestorm 5 suddenly drove itself into the pit of oblivion after deflecting off the Refbot in a charge. Finally, Kat 3 accidentally axed Bigger Brother, when actually trying to hit the Refbot, causing the roboteers to finally turn on each other. Kat 3 then ran away from the other competitors, Bigger Brother shoved Panic Attack against the angle grinder, then chased after Kat 3, with Panic Attack in hot pursuit. Kat 3 slammed into the pit release button again in panic, before being scooped up by Bigger Brother. Bigger Brother then tried to push Kat 3 down into the pit, but Kat 3 just escaped the robot's grasp, and Bigger Brother suddenly lost control, reversed, and fell into the pit itself. In the second round, Kat 3 fought Pussycat, having fought them before in the Iron Maidens tournament. Neither robot was able to inflict any visible damage in the opening moments; Kat 3's axe could not land a blow, and Pussycat's blade was not cutting into the armour or weaponry of Kat 3, Pussycat could only occasionally scratch the sides of Kat 3, but not creating any holes. However, damage to the armour of Kat 3 eventually began to become visible, but this was mostly superficial, and Kat 3's mobility and weaponry seemed unharmed. Kat 3 then activated the pit release button, before ramming Pussycat again. The design of the two robots meant that when they were side by side, neither robot's weapon could land a blow. Cease was then called as time ran out, resulting in a judges' decision. It took a fair while for the judges to decide the winner, but like the previous encounter between these two robots, the judges finally gave it to Pussycat. Results |} Wins/Losses *UK Wins: 7 *UK Losses: 6 *US Wins: 1 *US Losses: 2 NOTE: This includes Bigger Brother's victory over Zanzara as a win for Kat 3 Series Record UK Series Kat3 vs Shunt.jpg|Promo shot of Kat 3 axing Shunt RWOM4poster.jpg|Kat 3 and Shunt in a poster, included with Issue 4 of Robot Wars: The Official Magazine Julie-Ann Kat3.png|Julie-Ann Williams inspects a damaged Kat 3 Kat3Unpainted.jpg|Kat 3 unpainted before Series 7 Kat 3 Side.jpg|Side view of Kat 3 in Series 7 Kat3 ext2.jpg|Kat3 in the arena during Extreme 2 Kat3 insides.jpg|The insides of Kat 3 at a Live Event Kat3 s5 stats.png|Kat 3's stat board in Series 5 with a poorly cropped image US Series Outside Robot Wars Kat'sWhisker's_tg02.jpg|Kat's Whisker's during the Assault Course of Techno Games 2002 212px-Teamsnowcat.jpg|Kat's Whiskers with Snowstorm at Techno Games in 2003 Team kat3 live events.jpg|The Kat3 team during an event in 2003 Kat3BMW04.png|Kat 3 at Brighton Model World 2004 Kat3 2016.jpg|Kat3 in 2016 Like many Robot Wars competitors Team KaterKiller entered Techno Games in 2002. The team entered a weaponless Kat 3, renamed Kat's Whiskers, in the football tournament. It was teamed with Snowstorm, a white-and-blue, weaponless Firestorm, where they won the silver medal. Losing 5-0 to Storm Chaser and Sprocket in the final. Kat's Whiskers also competed in the Assault Course Event in 2002, beating Stanoscloir in the first round but losing to Wolf. Kat's Whiskers (this time being the Series 6 model unlike the Series 5 model from the previous year) returned the following year for the football tournament only, this time coloured white. However, they were less successful, losing 2-1 to the Skeleton Crew in the first round. After Robot Wars, Kat 3 made various appearances at live events in 2004. It was last seen at a Roaming Robots event in 2005 at the London Expo where it was on static display with Behemoth, Arnold A. Terminegger, Firestorm 5, Terrorhurtz & Merlin. Kat 3 is still held in good condition with its original team. Keith Williams has stated that he is thinking of ideas for a potential Kat4 machinehttps://twitter.com/kthwill/status/773100613634785280. He maintained this interest in December 2017https://twitter.com/kthwill/status/939407013813063680. Trivia *Of the fifty robots to return from Series 4 to compete in Series 5, Kat 3 (as a representative of Team KaterKiller) is one of only ten to perform better in its Series 5 appearance. The others are Bigger Brother, Firestorm, Diotoir, Prizephita Mach 2, Razer, Reactor, Rick, Destruct-A-Bubble and Clawed Hopper. *Out of all 24 All-Star robots, only Kat 3 came from a team that never made the semi-finals of a UK or World Championship. *Kat 3 was one of only four robots to enter multiple side events in Series 7, alongside Behemoth, Flippa and Gravity. *Out of all robots with an equal win/loss ratio, Kat 3 has the second-highest total of wins, with 8. This is only exceeded by Diotoir. *In line with the popular saying 'a cat has nine lives', Kat 3 lost eight battles in Robot Wars, leaving it on its ninth and final life when it retired. This trivia is shared by Pussycat. **Alternatively, Kat 3's losses outside of UK Robot Wars can be swapped for Kater Killer's two losses. *Whilst testing Kat 3's axe, Keith Williams damaged the door of his parents house. References Honours External Links *Team KaterKiller website (Archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Sportsmanship Award winners Category:Nickelodeon competitors Category:International event only competitors in the US Series Category:Robots from Surrey Category:UK Representatives Category:Robots with alternate versions Category:All-Star Robots Category:Robots with Spiked Axes/Picks Category:Competitors in Techno Games Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Robots to defeat a seed Category:Robots that bore the UK flag Category:Tag Team Competitors Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots which debuted in Series 5 Category:Robots based on cats Category:Robots to damage Cassius Chrome